Penny for your Thoughts?
by HermioneTwin
Summary: When a potion accidentally allows Fred to read Hermione’s thoughts, what exactly will he discover? He might just be in for some shocking revelations! Hermione/Fred! one-shot!


**A/N: Dedicated to the very lovely WeasleyForMe who gave me the little push needed in order to write this!**

**Disclaimer: ****Me****: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? ****Mirror****: You're not. ****Me****: sobs ****Mirror****: And you're not J.K either. ****Me****: shoots self**

**All clear? **

**Penny for your thoughts?**

_The properties of the Mandrake leaf can differ depending on the aging technique the brewer has employed. Specialists recommend stewing the leaves individually in a proper maturing solution, preferably prepared from scratch as to enforce the magical elements. Maturing solutions are available in every basic apothecary, however, and can range from…_

Fred groaned as he finally threw the useless book aside. He rubbed his eyes exhaustedly as he slumped farther into the common room's mushy velvet couch.

That book was without a doubt the most boring thing he had ever had to suffer through, and he had suffered through quite an array of dull events…including shoe shopping with Ginny.

He shuddered at the memory of all those evil little stiletto demons.

Ok, so perhaps the book wasn't quite so bad after all.

"Hey, George!" George called excitedly as he practically flew down the dormitory stairs.

"I'm not George, you are." Fred informed him tiredly.

"Oh…" His twin came to a confused stop. "Well, then hey, Fred!" He said with a shrug, his prior energy coming back full force as he literally skipped over to Fred's sitting place.

"Hi George." Fred said with chuckle as his favorite twin plopped down beside him.

"Are you…are you _studying_?" George asked in outrage as he noticed the book Fred had propped up onto his knees.

Fred snorted as if the very idea was positively ludicrous.

"No, you dolt, I'm researching for that new product of ours." He explained.

"Well, there's no need to anymore! I've finished it! Here you go mate!" George exclaimed ecstatically as he thrust a tube filled with transparent liquid into Fred's hands.

Fred's eyes widened in surprise.

"How on Earth did you do that?" He demanded gleefully, staring at the tiny object in awe.

"I haven't slept in two days." George responded as he began bouncing up and down on the couch, humming some kind of show tune as he gazed at Fred expectantly.

Fred choked on a snort as he noticed the energy drink filled garbage bin near the dormitory stairs, as well as the half empty can still in George's hand. That would explain the excessively hyper behavior.

"George, mate, you are mad." He muttered, shaking his head but still smiling excitedly at his imbecile of a brother.

"No, I'm not. I'm quite happy, actually. Why? Do I look mad? Maybe I haven't had enough of those drinks. Sleepiness can make people cranky, you know. I should probably chug a few more." George said, slurring each word in an attempt to talk as fast as possible.

Fred's eyes widened again but this time in acute alarm.

"NO! Believe me, you've had enough. You're probably about to explode any second now, actually. So, why don't you just do the sensible thing? Ditch class today, go to bed and get some rest before your heart decides to quit on you." Fred said, taking care to properly enunciate each word as to hold George's tiny attention span.

Gorge nodded his head merrily at the proposition, nearly ripping it off in the process, before adding, "Fine. But would you test it today? I'd like to know the results when I wake up."

Fred glanced anxiously at the small tube. "Well, are you sure that you got everything right? I mean you haven't slept in over 48 hours. Shouldn't we verify it thoroughly before testing it on ourselves?" He asked nervously.

George shook his head. "Oh, come on! I didn't make any mistakes. I was very careful, Forge. You have my word." He said, smacking his twitching hand onto his heart.

Fred sighed as he nodded his head in consent. "All right. But if it alters my appearance in any way, you are now officially Fred and I am George." He said.

George laughed a high squeaky laugh before hopping over to the dormitory's staircase and flying up to his room.

"Crazy." Fred mumbled under his breath before uncorking the tube and giving it a last untrusting look. He shrugged and drank it all in one gulp, before getting up and making his way over to the portrait hole, intent on having a nice, long breakfast.

Today was definitely going to be…interesting.

* * *

Halfway through breakfast, Fred still couldn't feel a single change within himself. The potion was supposed to enable the drinker to influence people's emotions by lowering or increasing their hormone levels. They had originally come up with the concept when Fred had mentioned that they should make it a goal of theirs to find a way to put Snape in a giddy mood.

George had obviously done something wrong, though. The potion should have begun to affect him by now.

Fred sighed disappointedly before downing his glass of orange juice and getting up, intent on not being late for class again. Not that he was scared of breaking the rules or anything (he scoffed at the very idea) he just didn't particularly fancy another detention. There was obviously more work to be done on this annoyingly difficult product.

He began to head over to Divination, the first torture session planned to ruin his morning. He groaned as he remembered that he actually had double Divination. This day was apparently going to be a tiny sample of living hell.

Just as he was starting to contemplate the option of ditching class himself and going back to bed, something very small and very hard collided into his unsuspecting figure.

Fred struggled to keep his balance as he caught hold of the unknown creature and tried to prevent them both from falling over.

"I'm so sorry." A tiny voice squeaked as soon as they were both sure they weren't about to tumble to the floor.

"I'm late for class and I wasn't looking…Fred?"

The smile that erupted onto Fred's face was instantaneous as he recognized the distressed voice.

"Well, hello there Hermione!" He said cheerfully, staring down at her surprised yet still beautiful face, making absolutely no move as to remove his hands from around her waist.

"Hi." She said breathlessly, before shaking her head violently and disengaging herself from his hold.

"I'm so sorry." She repeated. "I have to get to Potions. I was reading this morning and I completely lost track of the time and well, you know how Snape gets when we arrive late…well, apart from the Slytherins, obviously. I'll apologize properly later. Sorry. Bye." She said quickly, all in one breath, before flashing him a shy smile and running off in the opposite direction.

Fred stared at her retreating form with a goofy smile, causing people to chuckle as they passed him on their way to class.

He had always had quite a soft spot for that girl.

George thought he was insane for it. The first time he had caught him staring at her in the common room, he had practically died of suppressed laughter. But, he just didn't get it.

There was just something about Hermione that Fred couldn't seem to erase from his mind. Maybe it was how cute she got while studying…or that adorable little spark that flashed across her eyes when she got mad at his idiotic brother…or that incredibly alluring mass of chocolate brown curls.

Regardless, he was obsessed and he knew it.

He shook his head sadly at the impossibility of his thoughts before squaring his shoulders bravely and continuing on his way, ready to endure two full periods of Trelawny.

* * *

_Oh just shut up, already!  
_

"I'm sorry, what?" Fred asked the girl seated behind him. Had she just told him to shut it?

The girl furrowed her brow in confusion. "I didn't say anything." She whispered.

"Oh, my mistake then." Fred said.

He leaned back uneasily in his chair. Maybe his morning with Trelawny had actually driven him to madness. He could've sworn he'd just heard that girl speak…

_This is honestly the most stupid lecture ever known to mankind. The guy can't even pronounce basic words right! It's _Im_possible, not _In_possible, you moron. Why can't they ever get a decent sub? _

Fred shook his head violently. He was absolutely positive that he had heard _that._

_I am going ding dong crazy in here! Any more of this an-Oh, God the guy's wig is actually slipping off of his skull. _

Fred heard someone cough loudly beside him and turned around to find a pink-cheeked Hermione trying to suppress a giggle. His baffled thoughts quickly turned to elation as he saw her smile.

Only someone quite as brilliant as Hermione could actually be moved up to seventh year Ancient Runes. Normal people generally had to go through hell just to pass their exams, but _she _somehow managed to get bumped up two years.

_Oops. I didn't mean to cough that loud. I hope he didn't notice. I wouldn't want the poor guy to think I'm laughing at him…even if I am. He may be an imbecile, but he is doing his best, I suppose._

Fred had to focus very hard on not choking on his own saliva. Could that voice possibly be…?

_Oh, shit. Now, Fred's staring at me. What do I do? What do I do? Why aren't you answering me? Because I'm you, you idiot. Right. Of course you're you. I mean, I'm you…or I'm me. Merlin, my thoughts don't make sense anymore! Why does this always happen when he looks at me? Ok, ok, just act casual! Cross your legs and tap your quill in an elegantly bored kind of way._

Fred's mouth fell open as Hermione gracefully crossed her legs and started tapping her quill onto her desk.

He…he was actually reading Hermione Granger's thoughts! How the hell was he doing this?

And more importantly, was his staring really the reason behind her erratic thoughts?

_Ok, this seems to be working… why is he still staring, though? And his mouth is actually hanging open. Well, I can certainly think of quite a few interesting ways to seal those lips of his…bad Hermione! You know he doesn't like you! Don't encourage those unreasonable fantasies of yours!_

Fred was practically hyperventilating. How in the name of all that is holy was this happening?

Something suddenly clicked.

The potion! George's potion must've caused this! That idiotic twin of his somehow found a way to-

_Damn it, why won't he stop staring? Unleashing those eyes on me is not helping with the abstain-from-the-non-catholic-thoughts-involving-Fred plan!_

Screw the fact that this wasn't its original purpose. This was the best thing that had ever happened to him!

_He really is trying to drive me insane, isn't he? Maybe I should just-darn! My quill snapped! Oh, great and he just had to see that, didn't he? First, I crash into him this morning, and now this!_

Fred saw Hermione sigh in embarrassment before bending over to pick up the remaining pieces of her quill.

A sudden stroke of inspiration hit him.

He quickly bent over as well and caught Hermione's hand in his in a fake attempt to retrieve her quill for her.

He felt her mind buzz.

"Sorry, 'Mione." He whispered with a wink before leaning back again.

Hermione's mind was blank for a second as she sat back down herself before it exploded in an outburst of confused thoughts.

_He winked at me! He actually winked at me! Why did he do that? Why on earth did he do that? And he grabbed my hand…oh my God, he actually grabbed my hand! Ok, calm down, you're thinking like a crazed hormone induced schoolgirl. It was just a coincidence…but he winked at me! He really, really did. He really does want to drive me to insanity, doesn't he? Oh, what do I do now? He's still staring! Maybe there's something on my face…_

Fred couldn't believe her response. Maybe he'd just gone insane and was hearing voices…

_If he doesn't stop staring now I actually _will_ go insane! Oh, but he's got the most gorgeous eyes! Maybe it wouldn't be such a good thing if he turned them away after all. _

Fred shrugged happily. Well, if this was insanity after all, he didn't care. With thoughts like those, he'd gladly sit in a padded room all day with this imaginary voice for company.

The sad sigh that escaped from Hermione's lips snapped Fred out of his happy reverie.

_Just forget it, Granger. It's never going to happen. You're just his little brother's second best friend with frizzy hair and a weird fascination for books. He'll never like you. _

Fred watched miserably as Hermione's head plopped down onto her hand and she stared off dismally into space. Even her agitated thoughts had turned into a depressed buzz, punctuated with the occasional degrading word like: pathetic, useless and hideous.

Well, he'd be damned if he ever let his (yes, his!) Hermione fall into a depression over such delusional thoughts! Honestly, for such a smart girl, that was the most ridiculous conclusion ever! If anything, _he_ was the one who didn't deserve _her_!

Just then the bell rang, delivering the poor students from the tortuous and monotonous lecture the sub was still nervously attempting to deliver.

Fred silently followed Hermione's dejected form through the door before grabbing her around the waist and whipping her around to face him.

"Fred? What the hel-?"

Fred interrupted her by lifting her up dramatically and pressing his lips to hers.

A loud 'pop!' resounded in his head, but he paid it no attention. He was in heaven.

"What…what was that for?" She asked breathlessly, when Fred put her back down.

Fred shrugged, a huge smile on his face.

"That was just something that I had been meaning to do for a while."

* * *

"Whoa! You the man, Freddy!" George exclaimed as Hermione and Fred walked into the common room, hand in hand.

Hermione blushed delicately as Fred winked at his brother before pulling Hermione down onto the couch and into his lap.

"How did…?" George asked.

Fred waved his hand. "Long story!"

George shook his head with wonder before asking, "So, ever find out if that potion of mine works?"

Fred glanced down at Hermione, suddenly realizing that that pop must have meant the end of his mind reading talents.

"Ummm…no, actually. Must have been a dud, mate." He said with a shrug. He would explain everything to George later.

George shook his head sadly. "Oh, well. Woops, there's Katie! Got to go!" He said happily before skipping over to meet his girlfriend.

Fred laughed at his brother as Hermione sighed dreamily and leaned against him, an expression of utter content adorning her features.

"I still don't get it." She said softly.

"Get what?" Fred asked, leaning over himself to plant a kiss on Hermione's nose.

"How this happened." She explained with a giggle. "I mean, I never thought that you could ever possibly like me! Just last period, I was thinking about how ridiculous my own feelings were when…what? Fred, why are you laughing?" She asked with a frown.

"Oh, nothing, love." He said teasingly, pecking her on the nose again.

"Oh, come on!" She said curiously. "Penny for your thoughts?"

* * *

**A/N: And that's that, my dears! Hope you liked it! Please review and tell me if you did…or didn't! I have a huge supply of cyber hugs and am very willing to give them away** **to all of you wonderful reviewers! Know that they do expire though…hint, hint!**

**Much love,**

**Jess**


End file.
